ICC Blogging Breakout Session Friday, September 22, 2006
10:30 Introduction – 10 minutes (Tony) Intro Panel Who follows blogs? Who has a blog? Who’s just learning about blogs? What’s blogging? Short for weblog Website where entries are made and displayed in reverse chronological order online diary or place to provide running commentary on specific topics Connection and conversation Overview of session – why, how, what, building audience Why Blog? – 15 minutes (Daryl)
10:40
I. Why Read Blogs? a. Personal: Stay current on the things happening to your friends and family. Discuss the family blog with vacation updates, pictures and other personal information. Discuss the value in reading friends blogs to share “life” with them by getting their take on topics and events. b. Hobby/Interests: Stay current on information related to your hobbies and interests. Example: following political or religious blogs or following blogs that discuss pop culture of high end audio equipment. c. Professional: Stay current on topics related to your field of expertise. II. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) a. Example: Television syndication (from Wikipedia): In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in countries where television is organized around networks with local affiliates, notably the United States. Types of syndication: i. First-run syndication refers to programming that is broadcast for the first time as a syndicated show, or at least first so offered in a given country (foreign programs, first presented on a network in their country of origin, have often been syndicated in the U.S. and in some other countries); ii. Off-network syndication involves the sale of a program that was originally run on network television: a rerun;
iii. Public-broadcasting syndication has arisen in the U.S. as a parallel service to stations in the PBS network and the handful of independent public stations. b. RSS is syndication in the web world i. A blog is similar to a web site/page except that it incorporates the use of RSS technology to syndicate the content to anyone interested. Each blog has an XML “feed” and each time you post on the blog the item is added to the top of the feed. c. XML page (or feed) used to “wrap” content in specific tags that make the content readable/usable by others (Jason to discuss Bloglines and other RSS aggregators) d. Most useful part of RSS? The ability to funnel large amounts of related or unrelated information into one central location. You then view the content and decide if you want to actually visit the site for the full article or related information. III. Why Create a Blog? a. Personal (connectedness): To provide information for friends and family about your life. b. Personal (expressiveness): To get thoughts and ideas out of your head and somewhere helpful! c. Hobbies / Interests: To add value to others and develop sense of community around a hobby or activity. d. Educational / training: Have constant access to the most up to date information on a given topic with access to best practices and tutorials for you given are of expertise. e. Professional: Development of community with peers and giving back to others by offering the knowledge you have rather than hoarding it. f. Pragmatic Reason: Information can be written once and referenced by those needing it vs. sending a letter to someone and having to repeat the process when someone requires a similar letter. 10:55 How to Blog? – 20 minutes (Jason) Tools for following blogs (Bloglines, NewsGator, Firefox Live, Yahoo/Google, etc.) Tools for creating blogs (TypePad, Word Press, Blogger, etc.) Tools for tracking blogs (FeedBurner, Technorati, StatCounter, etc.) What to Blog? – 15 minutes (Kem) common sense & respect writing for blogs be an unmatched resource once you start, don’t stop keep it relevant (witfm)
11:15
write like you talk be authentic, be you (between sterilized and tactless) keep it brief have fun
best practices don't apologize for light blogging don't link to every single word do share the link love don't sell or self-promote do be vulnerable do build others up do celebrate your success...but don't make me feel small don't try to cover up your mistakes, reveal the do check your spelling and your links do tell me about your family do tell me what you love do share what you're learning do offer your opinions don't spread gossip do tell the truth lurking isn't always bad (fringe people or people who are interested but don't want to start a conversation they don't have time to finish) Comments no jumping in and dumping… blog is not a place to pick a fight..visible…public… principles for communicating and lifing people up allow comments respond to people who comment leave comments on blogs you like don't argue with flamer do provide an email contact don't ask me to link to your blog
11:30 Building an Audience – 10 minutes (Tony) 1. Determine your primary audience focus your research and writing on that audience Stay on the cutting edge of information [Who’s in my audience?] 2. Reveal insider information…about your organization and your life. Ask permission if there’s a question. Spectrum between staid and stupid. Don’t show too much skin. “Some people don’t look good in bike shorts.”
3. Post regularly. Like almost daily. You’re building a network of relationships. 4. Learn to flirt. Keep posts short. Quick touch vs. long embrace 5. Use humor. 6. Reveal your idiosyncrasies. Share your interests. Avoid false humility or manufactured personality Be you. Be real. What are some of my idiosyncrasies/interests? 7. Build people up. Encourage others. Don’t attack. 8. Build a brand. What’s my brand? 9. Follow heavy traffic with quality posts. Follow your stats Subscribe to your name 10. Share your opinion. Push hot buttons. Be a thought leader. Remember your secondary audience is reading as well. 11:40 11:58 12:00 Q&A – 18 minutes (Tony facilitates) Wrap for break – 2 minutes (Tony) Lunch